i think the key to last answer is ----"large-scale treatment"

Originally Posted by angadsharma
Throughout human history the leading causes of death have been infection and trauma. Modem medicine has scored significant victories against both, and the major causes of ..................

4
2
3
1

Rc 5

4
4
3
2

Throughout human history the leading causes of death have been infection and trauma. Modem medicine has scored significant victories against both, and the major causes of ill h




1. Why are a large number of apparently healthy people deemed pre-ill?

4. There is a lengthy latency period associated with chronically degenerative diseases




2. Type-B malnutrition is a serious concern in developed countries because


2. it is a major contributor to illness and death.




3. Tailoring micronutrient-based treatment plans to suit individual deficiency profiles is not necessary because


3. most people are consuming suboptimal amounts of safe-to-consume micronutrients.




4. The author recommends micronutrient-repletion for large-scale treatment of chronic degenerative diseases because


2. micronutrient deficiency is the cause of these diseases.

my take as shown....
now can we name the RC as SET-1 and so on...it will be good and systematic...and also in tradition of last year thread....
i am also in....for cat-2012

Hello Tanveer sir,

Have some few doubts.

1. XAT 2008 had questions based on figures of speech.
oxymoron, euphemism,hyperbole,non-sequiter,metaphor and personification

2. There were also question on inductive geralisation, predictive argument, argument from authority,casual argumetn, argumetn from analogy.

Sir, can you share some links where one will able to learn about above things. ( Both 1 and 2).

I got 1 pdf, but its to vague and vast. Also does not contain few things.

-> About 2nd query sir, can you also throw some idea. Totally clueless about it.

Thanks in advance sir !!

1. Why are a large number of apparently healthy people deemed pre-ill?

1. They may have chronic degenerative diseases.
2. They do not know their own genetic risk factors which predispose them to diseases.
3. They suffer from Type-B malnutrition.
4. There is a lengthy latency period associated with chronically degenerative diseases





2. Type-B malnutrition is a serious concern in developed countries because

1. developing countries mainly suffer from Type-A malnutrition.
2. it is a major contributor to illness and death.
3. pharmaceutical companies are not producing drugs to treat this-condition.
4. national surveys on malnutrition do not include newer micronutrient groups.




3. Tailoring micronutrient-based treatment plans to suit individual deficiency profiles is not necessary because

1. it very likely to give inconsistent or negative results.
2. it is a classic pharmaceutical approach not suited to micronutrients.
3. most people are consuming suboptimal amounts of safe-to-consume micronutrients.
4. it is not cost effective to do so.




4. The author recommends micronutrient-repletion for large-scale treatment of chronic degenerative diseases because

1. it is relatively easy to manage.
2. micronutrient deficiency is the cause of these diseases.
3. it can overcome genetic risk factors.
4. it can compensate for other lifestyle factors.

My take in bold.
Q4. not sure between 1 and 2, though gut feeling says 1, so going with 1

Throughout human history the leading causes of death have been infection and trauma. Modem medicine has scored significant victories against both, and the major causes of ill health and death are now the chronic degenerative diseases, such as coronary artery disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimers, macular degeneration, cataract and cancer. These have a long latency period before symptoms appear and a diagnosis is made. It follows that the majority of apparently healthy people are pre-ill.

But are these conditions inevitably degenerative? A truly preventive medicine that focused on the pre-ill, analysing the metabolic errors which lead to clinical illness, might be able to correct them before the first symptom. Genetic risk factors are known for all the chronic degenerative diseases, and are important to the individuals who possess them. At the population level, however, migration studies confirm that these illnesses are linked for the most part to lifestyle factors exercise, smoking and nutrition. Nutrition is the easiest of these to change, and the most versatile tool for affecting the metabolic changes needed to tilt the balance away from disease.

Many national surveys reveal that malnutrition is common in developed countries. This is not the calorie and/or micronutrient deficiency associated with developing nations (Type A malnutrition); but multiple micronutrient depletion, usually combined with calorific balance or excess (Type B malnutrition). The incidence and severity of Type B malnutrition will be shown to be worse if newer micronutrient groups such as the essential fatty acids, xanthophylls and flavonoids are included in the surveys. Commonly ingested levels of these micronutrients seem to be far too low in many developed countries.

There is now considerable evidence that Type B malnutrition is a major cause of chronic degenerative diseases. If this is the case, then it is logical to treat such diseases not with drugs but with multiple micronutrient repletion, or pharmaco-nutrition. This can take the form of pills and capsules nutraceuticals, or food formats known as functional foods, This approach has been neglected hitherto because it is relatively unprofitable for drug companies the products are hard to patent and it is a strategy which does not sit easily with modem medical interventionism. Over the last 100 years, the drug industry has invested huge sums in developing a range of subtle and powerful drugs to treat the many diseases we are subject to. Medical training is couched in pharmaceutical terms and this approach has provided us with an exceptional range of therapeutic tools in the treatment of disease and in acute medical emergencies. However, the pharmaceutical model has also created an unhealthy dependency culture, in which relatively few of us accept responsibility for maintaining our own health. Instead, we have handed over this responsibility to health professionals who know very little about health maintenance, or disease prevention.

One problem for supporters of this argument is lack of the right kind of hard evidence. We have a wealth of epidemiological data linking dietary factors to health profiles / disease risks, and a great deal of information on mechanism: how food factors interact with our biochemistry. But almost all intervention studies with micronutrients, with the notable exception of the omega 3 fatty acids, have so far produced conflicting or negative results. In other words, our science appears to have no predictive value. Does this invalidate the science? Or are we simply asking the wrong questions?

Based on pharmaceutical thinking, most intervention studies have attempted to measure the impact of a single micronutrient on the incidence of disease. The classical approach says that if you give a compound formula to test subjects and obtain positive results, you cannot know which ingredient is exerting the benefit, so you must test each ingredient individually. But in the field of nutrition, this does not work. Each intervention on its own will hardly make enough difference to be measured. The best therapeutic response must therefore combine micronutrients to normalise our internal physiology. So do we need to analyse each individuals nutritional status and then tailor a formula specifically for him or her? While we do not have the resources to analyse millions of individual cases, there is no need to do so. The vast majority of people are consuming suboptimal amounts of most micronutrients, and most of the micronutrients concerned are very safe. Accordingly, a comprehensive and universal program of micronutrient support is probably the most cost-effective and safest way of improving the general health of the nation.




1. Why are a large number of apparently healthy people deemed pre-ill?

1. They may have chronic degenerative diseases.
2. They do not know their own genetic risk factors which predispose them to diseases.
3. They suffer from Type-B malnutrition.
4. There is a lengthy latency period associated with chronically degenerative diseases




2. Type-B malnutrition is a serious concern in developed countries because

1. developing countries mainly suffer from Type-A malnutrition.
2. it is a major contributor to illness and death.
3. pharmaceutical companies are not producing drugs to treat this-condition.
4. national surveys on malnutrition do not include newer micronutrient groups.




3. Tailoring micronutrient-based treatment plans to suit individual deficiency profiles is not necessary because

1. it very likely to give inconsistent or negative results.
2. it is a classic pharmaceutical approach not suited to micronutrients.
3. most people are consuming suboptimal amounts of safe-to-consume micronutrients.
4. it is not cost effective to do so.




4. The author recommends micronutrient-repletion for large-scale treatment of chronic degenerative diseases because

1. it is relatively easy to manage.
2. micronutrient deficiency is the cause of these diseases.
3. it can overcome genetic risk factors.
4. it can compensate for other lifestyle factors.

Passage from CAT

RC 5

A game of strategy, as currently conceived in game theory, is a situation in which two or more.......

1- 3 (i think all of them have been mentioned above in the application of game theory to a conflict-of-interest situation)
2- 4
3- 1
2- 2

Passage from CAT:

RC 5

1) 3
2) 4
3) 1
4) 2 (Was confused between the 3rd and 2nd, but finally chose 2nd because the situation might be continuously altered by the aggressive player putting obstacles in the path of the other player. But I hope this is not what is meant by a perfect game )

HAMMERMILL VS. OSHA: A QUESTION OF RESPONSIBILITY
During the early 1990s, internal safety and health audits have increased among organizations in the
United States. As companies endeavor to get rid of workplace hazards and improve the quality of health
care, such audits have become particularly valuable.
Activity in the area of internal safety and audits rose sharply following the establishment of the
Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (OSHA) in 1971. Many managers decided to conduct their
own audits before OSHA did it for them and tacked on fines and citations in the process. During
subsequent years, an increasing number of companies decided to conduct voluntary audits, and, until the
early 1990s, such audits served merely as internal reminders of health and safety issues that needed imp
movement or were not functioning properly.
In 1992, however, the policy changed. In July, the secretary of labor requested that managers of the
Hammer mill Paper Division of the International Paper Company submit copies of the companys voluntary
internal audits for 1989, 1990, and 1991.
Hammer mill agreed to provide OSHA with copies of records that employers are required to keep acc
lording to federal law, but refused to release any reports that had been completed on a voluntary bas is.
Citing Section 8(c)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, Hammer mill argued that the Secretary
of Labor is empowered only to order periodic workplace inspections, not to require a company to certify
results of voluntary, internal inspections. As a compromise, Hammer mill offered to release its voluntary
reports if OSHA were to agree not to use them for punitive purposes. OSHA refused the offer and decided
to take Hammer mill to court.
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) filed an amicus brief in defense of Hammer mills
position. It stated that, by demanding to see the results of voluntary inspections, the secretary was
actually undermining the stated purpose of OSHA, which was to promote safety in the workup lace. NAM
pointed out that employers would be more hesitant to perform voluntary audits if the rest units could be
used against them. Nevertheless, a federal judge in the southern district of Alabama ruled in favor of
OSHA and held that section 8(b) of the Act transfers broad powers to the secretary. According to the
court, The Act simply contains no provision exempting self-audits or self-inspection rep orts from the
Secretarys subpoena authority. As a result, Hammer mill was ultimately fined $464,000 for information
contained in the reports.
QUESTIONS:-
1. Who is at fault here?
2. How would you have handled the situation if you have been the secretary of labor? A Hammer mill
manager?
3. Was the court correct in its decision?
4. What other sort of audits do companies conduct?

Passage from CAT

RC SET 5

Found passage quite abstruse and challenging

My take on answers

1. 2
2. 4
3. 1
4. 1

As requested a passage from XAT

RC 4

My take
1. 2
2. 1
3. 5

Passage from CAT

RC 5

A game of strategy, as currently conceived in game theory, is a situation in which two or more players make choices among available alternatives (moves). The totality of choices determines the outcomes of the game, and it is assumed that the rank order of preferences for the outcomes is different for different players. Thus the interests of the players are generally in conflict. Whether these interests are diametrically opposed or only partially opposed depends on the type of game.
Psychologically, most interesting situations arise when the interests of the players are partly coincident and partly opposed, because then one can postulate not only a conflict among the players but also inner conflicts within the players. Each is tom between a tendency to cooperate, so as to promote the common interests, and a tendency to compete, so as to enhance his own individual interests.
Internal conflicts are always psychologically interesting. What we vaguely call interesting psychology is in very great measure the psychology of inner conflict. Inner conflict is also held to be an important component of serious literature as distinguished from less serious genres. The classical tragedy, as well as the serious novel, reveals the inner conflict of central figures. The superficial adventure story, on the other hand, depicts only external conflict; that is, the threats to the person with whom the reader (or viewer) identifies stem in these stories exclusively from external obstacles and from the adversaries who create them. On the most primitive level this sort of external conflict is psychologically empty. In the fisticuffs between the protagonists of good and evil, no psychological problems are involved or, at any rate, none are depicted in juvenile representations of conflict.
The detective story, the adult analogue of a juvenile adventure tale, has at times been described as a glorification of intellectualized conflict. However, a great deal of the interest in the plots of these stories is sustained by withholding the unraveling of a solution to a problem. The effort of solving the problem is in itself not a conflict if the adversary (the unknown criminal) remains passive, like Nature, whose secrets the scientist supposedly unravels by deduction. If the adversary actively puts obstacles in the detectives path toward the solution, there is genuine conflict. But the conflict is psychologically interesting only to the extent that it contains irrational components such as a tactical error on the criminals part or the detectives insight into some psychological quirk of the criminal or something of this sort. Conflict conducted in a perfectly rational manner is psychologically no more interesting than a standard Western. For example, Tic-tac-toe, played perfectly by both players, is completely devoid of psychological interest. Chess may be psychologically interesting but only to the extent that it is played not quite rationally. Played completely rationally, chess would not be different from Tic-tac-toe.
In short, a pure conflict of interest (what is called a zero-sum game) although it offers a wealth of interesting conceptual problems, is not interesting psychologically, except to the extent that its conduct departs from rational norms.



Q 1) According to the passage, which of the following options about the application of game theory to a conflict-of-interest situation is true?




Not assuming that the interests are in complete disagreement.


Accepting that the interests of different players are often in conflict.


All are correct


Assuming that the rank order of preferences for options is different for different players.




Q2) The problem solving process of a scientist is different from that of a detective because




scientists study known objects, while detectives have to deal with unknown criminals or law offenders.


scientists study psychologically interesting phenomena, while detectives deal with adult analogues of juvenile adventure tales.


scientists study inanimate objects, while detectives deal with living criminals or law offenders.


scientists study phenomena that are not actively altered, while detectives deal with phenomena that have been deliberately influenced to mislead.





Q3) According to the passage, internal conflicts are psychologically more interesting than external conflicts because
Possible Answers



in situations of internal conflict, individuals experience a dilemma in resolving their own preferences for different outcomes.


internal conflicts, rather than external conflicts, form an important component of serious literature as distinguished from less serious genres.


there are no threats to the reader (or viewer) in case of external conflicts.


only juveniles or very few adults actually experience external conflict, while internal conflict is more widely prevalent in society.


Q4) Which, according to the author, would qualify as interesting psychology?



A finance managers quandary over the best way of raising money from the market.


A chess players predicament over adopting a defensive strategy against an aggressive opponent.


A mountaineers choice of the best path to Mt. Everest from the base camp.


A statisticians dilemma over choosing the best method to solve an optimisation problem.

As requested a passage from XAT

RC 4

My take -

a. 2
b. 1
c. 5

As requested a passage from XAT

RC 4

a. 2
b. 1
c. 5

as requested a passage from xat

rc 4

46) 2
47) 1
4 5

As requested a passage from XAT

RC 4

Analyse the following passage and provide an appropriate answer for the questions 46 through 48 that follow.

When we speak of the "probability of death", the exact meaning of the experience can be defined in the following way only. We must not think of an individual, but of this expression can be defined in the following way only. We must not think of an individual, but of a certain class as a whole, eg., "all insured men forty-one years old living in a given country and not engaged in certain dangerous occupations." A probability of death is attached to the class of men or to another class that can be defined in a similar way. We can say nothing about the probability of death of an individual even if we know this condition of life and health in detail. The phrase "probability of death", which it refers to a single person, has no meaning at all.


46. Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the passage?

1. Singular, non replicable events can be assigned numerical probability value.
2. Probability calculation requires data of the class of people or of events.
3. The data about a class of events can be used to predict the future of any specific event.

(1) 1 only (2) 2 only (3) 1 and 2 (4) 2 and 3 (5) 1 and 3

47. Which of the following statements would the author(s) disagree to the most? The outcome of a boxing match to be held in Los Angeles between two boxers, Joe and Mark, belonging to two different boxing clubs can be analysed and an outcome can be assigned a numerical value:

(1) if assignment of the boxers' current fitness levels and their strengths is done by experts.
(2) by analysis of outcomes of fights between the boxers belonging to the two clubs.
(3) by analysis of outcomes of fights between the two boxers at different venues.
(4) by comparing of outcomes of fights between the two boxers against same opponents.
(5) by analysis of outcomes of fights between the two boxers at the same venue in Los Angeles.



48. Which of the following statements would the author(s) agree to the most? The outcome of a boxing match to be held in Los Angeles between two boxers, Joe and Mark, belonging to two different boxing clubs can be analysed and an outcome can be assigned a numerical value:
(1) if assignment of the boxers' current fitness levels and their strengths is done by experts.
(2) by analysis of outcomes of fights between the boxers belonging to the two clubs.
(3) by analysis of outcomes of fights between the two boxers at different venues.
(4) by comparing of outcomes of fights between the two boxers against same opponents.
(5) by analysis of outcomes of fights between the two boxers at the same venue in Los Angeles.

Tanveer Sir

Thanks a lot for pointing out the mistakes. I understand that it will be better to begin from scratch. So sir proceed as per your plan. will be here.

Also sir, please point out any grammatical/usage error if any in my posts.

Thanks again
Ambarish

RC 3



1. Having read the passage what could be the meaning of the following words? Or say - Give 2 synonyms for each.
a) disparaging- critical(as in criticizing), scornful
b) inflammatory- fiery, rousing(or stirring)
c) defamatory- maligning, slanderous
d) maligned- smear, libel
e) proactive- involved

2) Which paragraph in the RC talks about an "anonymous tip"?
- The first paragraph

3) Mr Sibal prefers human beings to screen content and not technology. Does the passage mention why?
No

4) What are the 2 reasons for refusal to censor given by the Internet Companies? What is the solution to the problem given by them?
- Such a huge amount of data cannot be thoroughly examined
-Internet Companies are not the ones to decide what is right

Solution: Setting up of a set of guidelines governing the rules of public posting on the internet which should be directional in nature and i dont think there is a solution to the data volumes being managed, policing it is like asking the police to see to ensure that citizens are well mannered.

5) Who is Gulshan Rai?
the director general of Indias cyber-security monitor

6) What other similar measures has the Indian government taken to regulate content. Have they been succesful?
-The instance of the Indian government asking RIM to give it real time access to its instant messaging service

-RIM has already provided for lawful intercept of instant messaging, and email accounts hosted on its BlackBerry Enterprise Servers (BES). However, where a corporation runs its own BES then the encryption keys are only shared between the server and the handset: RIM delivers the messages, but has no way to decrypt them.
(source: India calls RIM's bluff on email access ? The Register)

Nice Set sir

My answers are in bold. I am not so good at English/va, but ready to work towards improving it. I am in, Will try to be regular on the thread.

Nice initiative Tanveer sir. Sir, as XAT is soon coming up and is known for its bewildering RC's, it would be really nice of you sir, if you post rc's related to XAT and help in cracking them.

Thanks a lot again, Saar..!!

Hi Ambarish

This initiative is actually meant for long term improvement as you can see from the level of the questions ..working from basics onwards.. but will try to post some past paper questions from XAT..

Regards
Tanveer

1. Having read the passage what could be the meaning of the following words? Or say - Give 2 synonyms for each.
a) disparaging - Annoying, (this is closer to insulting
b) inflammatory - provocative
c) defamatory - malign,derogatory also has legal liability for maligning
d) maligned - rabble-rousing , spoiling somebody's name
e) proactive - mutually beneficial, we could have a better meaning

2) Which paragraph in the RC talks about an "anonymous tip"?
- First paragraph

3) Mr Sibal prefers human beings to screen content and not technology. Does the passage mention why?
- No
4) What are the 2 reasons for refusal to censor given by the Internet Companies? What is the solution to the problem given by them?
- Internet companies are not in the bushiness of judging what is right and what is wrong.
- Without huge amount of data being generated, it is not possible to monitor entire data
solution?
5) Who is Gulshan Rai?
- Director General of India's Cyber Monitoring Cell

6) What other similar measures has the Indian government taken to regulate content. Have they been succesful?
- Setting up of Cyber Monitor cell in Mumbai for monitoring data genrated by Google and other such sites. anything else RIM??

1. Having read the passage what could be the meaning of the following words? Or say - Give 2 synonyms for each.
a) disparaging - Annoying,
b) inflammatory - provocative
c) defamatory - malign,derogatory
d) maligned - rabble-rousing ,
e) proactive - mutually beneficial,

2) Which paragraph in the RC talks about an "anonymous tip"?
- First paragraph

3) Mr Sibal prefers human beings to screen content and not technology. Does the passage mention why?
- No
4) What are the 2 reasons for refusal to censor given by the Internet Companies? What is the solution to the problem given by them?
- Internet companies are not in the bushiness of judging what is right and what is wrong.
- Without huge amount of data being generated, it is not possible to monitor entire data

5) Who is Gulshan Rai?
- Director General of India's Cyber Monitoring Cell

6) What other similar measures has the Indian government taken to regulate content. Have they been succesful?
- Setting up of Cyber Monitor cell in Mumbai for monitoring data genrated by Google and other such sites.
-

My answers are in bold. I am not so good at English/va, but ready to work towards improving it. I am in, Will try to be regular on the thread.

Nice initiative Tanveer sir. Sir, as XAT is soon coming up and is known for its bewildering RC's, it would be really nice of you sir, if you post rc's related to XAT and help in cracking them.

Thanks a lot again, Saar..!!

Puys - one of the reasons for RC not improving is that - well people just dont like doing it :). As it is English is a step child when it comes to CAT prep :).Case in point - Right now on the forum there are 10 people viewing quant threads but only 3 viewing English threads

So obviously if we do not do it it will not happen...

Also the style in which we do RCs need to be changed. It has to be more engaging , more fun and as close to real life as possible.And should involve more thinking rather than ticking out answer choices

Here - I will try to present a few RCs where we will see how the RC can be used to work on all the 3 aspects of english that niggle the CAT prepper - Vocab, Grammar and Reading. Initially starting off at a very basic level which may seem childish and also bothersome because the answers actually have to be researched or googled. Will notch up the difficulty level as we get feedback

RC 3

The Indian government has asked Internet companies and social media sites like Facebook to prescreen user content from India and to remove disparaging, inflammatory or defamatory content before it goes online, three executives in the information technology industry say. Top officials from the Indian units of Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook are meeting with Kapil Sibal, Indias acting telecommunications minister, on Monday afternoon to discuss the issue, say two executives of Internet companies. The executives asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media on the issue. Mr. Sibals office confirmed that he would meet with Internet service providers Monday but did not provide more information about the content of the meeting. (1)

About six weeks ago, Mr. Sibal called legal representatives from the top Internet service providers and Facebook into his New Delhi office, said one of the executives who was briefed on the meeting.At the meeting, Mr. Sibal showed attendees a Facebook page that maligned the Congress Partys president, Sonia Gandhi. This is unacceptable, he told attendees, the executive said, and he asked them to find a way to monitor what is posted on their sites. In the second meeting with the same executives in late November, Mr. Sibal told them that he expected them to use human beings to screen content, not technology, the executive said. (2)

The three executives said Mr. Sibal has told these companies that he expects them to set up a proactive prescreening system, with staffers looking for objectionable content and deleting it before it is posted.The executives said representatives from these companies will tell Mr. Sibal at the meeting on Monday that his demand is impossible, given the volume of user-generated content coming from India, and that they cannot be responsible for determining what is and isnt defamatory or disparaging. (3)

If theres a law and theres a court order, we can follow up on it, said an executive from one of the companies attending the meeting. But these companies cant be in the business of deciding what is and isnt legal to post, he said.Yahoo, Facebook and Microsoft did not respond immediately to calls for comment, and a Google spokeswoman said the company had no comment on the issue. Facebook said earlier this year it has more than 25 million users in India. Google has over 100 million Internet users in India. (4)

The demand is the Indian governments latest attempt to monitor and control electronic information. In April, the ministry issued rules demanding Internet service providers delete information posted on Web sites that officials or private citizens deemed disparaging or harassing. Last year, the government battled with Blackberrys manufacturer, Research In Motion, threatening to shut the companys service off in India if it did not allow government officials greater access to users messages.The Indian government also plans to set up its own unit to monitor information posted on Web sites and social media sites, executives said, which will report to Gulshan Rai, the director general of Indias cyber-security monitor. (5)

Some Indian cities like Mumbai have already set up special units to monitor Internet sites like Facebook and Orkut, the social networking site operated by Google, for content considered disparaging or obscene. India has made nearly 70 requests to Google to remove content between January and June of this year, one of the highest request rates of any country though less than the United Statess 92 and Brazils 224, according to Googles transparency report.

Source:India Asks Google, Facebook to Screen User Content - NYTimes.com

1. Having read the passage what could be the meaning of the following words? Or say - Give 2 synonyms for each.
a) disparaging b) inflammatory c) defamatory d) maligned e) proactive

2) Which paragraph in the RC talks about an "anonymous tip"?

3) Mr Sibal prefers human beings to screen content and not technology. Does the passage mention why?

4) What are the 2 reasons for refusal to censor given by the Internet Companies? What is the solution to the problem given by them?

5) Who is Gulshan Rai?

6) What other similar measures has the Indian government taken to regulate content. Have they been succesful?

OA for RC 2


1.B
2.E
3.C
4.A
5.C
6.B
7.E
8.C

RC 2

Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunities-as well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $500,000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.
Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980's is estimated to be over 53 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small company's efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.
A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as "fronts" with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures.
Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of becoming-and remaining-dependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.

Questions:

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) present a commonplace idea and its inaccuracies
(B) describe a situation and its potential drawbacks
(C) propose a temporary solution to a problem
(D) analyze a frequent source of disagreement
(E) explore the implications of a finding

2. The passage supplies information that would answer which of the following questions?
(A) What federal agencies have set percentage goals for the use of minority-owned businesses in public works contracts?
(B) To which government agencies must businesses awarded federal contracts report their efforts to find minority subcontractors?
(C) How widespread is the use of minority-owned concerns as "fronts" by White backers seeking to obtain subcontracts?
(D) How many more minority-owned businesses were there in 1977 than in 1972?
(E) What is one set of conditions under which a small business might find itself financially overextended?

3. According to the passage, civil rights activists maintain that one disadvantage under which minority-owned businesses have traditionally had to labor is that they have
(A) been especially vulnerable to governmental mismanagement of the economy
(B) been denied bank loans at rates comparable to those afforded larger competitors
(C) not had sufficient opportunity to secure business created by large corporations
(D) not been able to advertise in those media that reach large numbers of potential customers
(E) not had adequate representation in the centers of government power

4. The passage suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might cause it to
(A) experience frustration but not serious financial harm
(B) face potentially crippling fixed expenses
(C) have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government
(D) increase its spending with minority subcontractors
(E) revise its procedure for making bids for federal contracts and subcontracts

5. The author implies that a minority-owned concern that does the greater part of its business with one large corporate customer should
(A) avoid competition with larger, more established concerns by not expanding
(B) concentrate on securing even more business from that corporation
(C) try to expand its customer base to avoid becoming dependent on the corporation
(D) pass on some of the work to be done for the corporation to other minority-owned concerns
(E) use its influence with the corporation to promote subcontracting with other minority concerns

6. It can be inferred from the passage that, compared with the requirements of law, the percentage goals set by "some federal and local agencies" (lines 14-15) are
(A) more popular with large corporations
(B) more specific
(C) less controversial
(D) less expensive to enforce
(E) easier to comply with

7. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the author's assertion that, in the 1970's, corporate response to federal requirements (lines 18-19) was substantial
(A) Corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses totaled $2 billion in 1979.
(B) Between 1970 and 1972, corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses declined by 25 percent.
(C) The figures collected in 1977 underrepresented the extent of corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses.
(D) The estimate of corporate spending with minority-owned businesses in 1980 is approximately $10 million too high.
(E) The $1.1 billion represented the same percentage of total corporate spending in 1977 as did $77 million in 1972.

8. The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate response to working with minority subcontractors?
(A) Annoyed by the proliferation of "front" organizations, corporations are likely to reduce their efforts to work with minority-owned subcontractors in the near future.
(B) Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970's, their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contracts.
(C) The significant response of corporations in the 1970's is likely to be sustained and conceivably be increased throughout the 1980's.
(D) Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in the 1970's made substantial response impossible.
(E) The enormous corporate response has all but eliminated the dangers of over-expansion that used to plague small minority-owned businesses.

will post the answers tonight

Koi post hi nahi karta....mujhe hi start karna padega.....:sneaky::sneaky:

RC-1
Throughout human history the leading causes of death have been infection and trauma......

A-4
B-2
C-3
D-2(not very sure...1 can be the ans too)

hope to get 2/4

Koi post hi nahi karta....mujhe hi start karna padega.....:sneaky::sneaky:

RC-1
Throughout human history the leading causes of death have been infection and trauma. Modem medicine has scored significant victories against both, and the major causes of ill health and death are now the chronic degenerative diseases, such as coronary artery disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimers, macular degeneration, cataract and cancer. These have a long latency period before symptoms appear and a diagnosis is made. It follows that the majority of apparently healthy people are pre-ill.

But are these conditions inevitably degenerative? A truly preventive medicine that focused on the pre-ill, analysing the metabolic errors which lead to clinical illness, might be able to correct them before the first symptom. Genetic risk factors are known for all the chronic degenerative diseases, and are important to the individuals who possess them. At the population level, however, migration studies confirm that these illnesses are linked for the most part to lifestyle factors exercise, smoking and nutrition. Nutrition is the easiest of these to change, and the most versatile tool for affecting the metabolic changes needed to tilt the balance away from disease.

Many national surveys reveal that malnutrition is common in developed countries. This is not the calorie and/or micronutrient deficiency associated with developing nations (Type A malnutrition); but multiple micronutrient depletion, usually combined with calorific balance or excess (Type B malnutrition). The incidence and severity of Type B malnutrition will be shown to be worse if newer micronutrient groups such as the essential fatty acids, xanthophylls and flavonoids are included in the surveys. Commonly ingested levels of these micronutrients seem to be far too low in many developed countries.

There is now considerable evidence that Type B malnutrition is a major cause of chronic degenerative diseases. If this is the case, then it is logical to treat such diseases not with drugs but with multiple micronutrient repletion, or pharmaco-nutrition. This can take the form of pills and capsules nutraceuticals, or food formats known as functional foods, This approach has been neglected hitherto because it is relatively unprofitable for drug companies the products are hard to patent and it is a strategy which does not sit easily with modem medical interventionism. Over the last 100 years, the drug industry has invested huge sums in developing a range of subtle and powerful drugs to treat the many diseases we are subject to. Medical training is couched in pharmaceutical terms and this approach has provided us with an exceptional range of therapeutic tools in the treatment of disease and in acute medical emergencies. However, the pharmaceutical model has also created an unhealthy dependency culture, in which relatively few of us accept responsibility for maintaining our own health. Instead, we have handed over this responsibility to health professionals who know very little about health maintenance, or disease prevention.

One problem for supporters of this argument is lack of the right kind of hard evidence. We have a wealth of epidemiological data linking dietary factors to health profiles / disease risks, and a great deal of information on mechanism: how food factors interact with our biochemistry. But almost all intervention studies with micronutrients, with the notable exception of the omega 3 fatty acids, have so far produced conflicting or negative results. In other words, our science appears to have no predictive value. Does this invalidate the science? Or are we simply asking the wrong questions?

Based on pharmaceutical thinking, most intervention studies have attempted to measure the impact of a single micronutrient on the incidence of disease. The classical approach says that if you give a compound formula to test subjects and obtain positive results, you cannot know which ingredient is exerting the benefit, so you must test each ingredient individually. But in the field of nutrition, this does not work. Each intervention on its own will hardly make enough difference to be measured. The best therapeutic response must therefore combine micronutrients to normalise our internal physiology. So do we need to analyse each individuals nutritional status and then tailor a formula specifically for him or her? While we do not have the resources to analyse millions of individual cases, there is no need to do so. The vast majority of people are consuming suboptimal amounts of most micronutrients, and most of the micronutrients concerned are very safe. Accordingly, a comprehensive and universal program of micronutrient support is probably the most cost-effective and safest way of improving the general health of the nation.


A. Why are a large number of apparently healthy people deemed pre-ill?

1. They may have chronic degenerative diseases.
2. They do not know their own genetic risk factors which predispose them to diseases.
3. They suffer from Type-B malnutrition.
4. There is a lengthy latency period associated with chronically degenerative diseases




B. Type-B malnutrition is a serious concern in developed countries because

1. developing countries mainly suffer from Type-A malnutrition.
2. it is a major contributor to illness and death.
3. pharmaceutical companies are not producing drugs to treat this-condition.
4. national surveys on malnutrition do not include newer micronutrient groups.




C. Tailoring micronutrient-based treatment plans to suit individual deficiency profiles is not necessary because

1. it very likely to give inconsistent or negative results.
2. it is a classic pharmaceutical approach not suited to micronutrients.
3. most people are consuming suboptimal amounts of safe-to-consume micronutrients.
4. it is not cost effective to do so.




D. The author recommends micronutrient-repletion for large-scale treatment of chronic degenerative diseases because

1. it is relatively easy to manage.
2. micronutrient deficiency is the cause of these diseases.
3. it can overcome genetic risk factors.
4. it can compensate for other lifestyle factors.